QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — A plane-spotting radar Ecuador started operating two weeks ago to curtail drug trafficking was hit by a non-deadly explosion Sunday, according to authorities who said a “terrorist” attack could not be ruled out. The country’s defense ministry said there were no casualties from the blast that knocked out the military radar, which had been installed in the west coast town of Montecristi. “For the moment, a possible terrorist attack cannot be […]
Other News
Australia vows to sell coal ‘for decades’
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Australia said Monday it will sell coal for “decades into the future” after spurning a pact to phase out the polluting fossil fuel to halt catastrophic climate change. More than 40 countries pledged to eliminate coal use within decades during the COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow, which aims to cap the warming of Earth since the Industrial Revolution to between 1.5 and 2.0 degrees Celsius. Australia, along with some other […]
Astronaut becomes first Chinese woman to spacewalk
BEIJING, China (AFP) – Astronaut Wang Yaping became the first Chinese woman to walk in space, authorities said Monday, as her team completed a six-hour stint outside the Tiangong space station as part of its ongoing construction. Tiangong — meaning “heavenly palace” — is the latest achievement in China’s drive to become a major space power, after landing a rover on Mars and sending probes to the Moon. Its core module entered orbit earlier this […]
Chile’s desert dumping ground for fast fashion leftovers
by Paula BUSTAMANTE Agence France-Presse ALTO HOSPICIO, Chile (AFP) – A mountain of discarded clothing including Christmas sweaters and ski boots cuts a strange sight in Chile’s Atacama, the driest desert in the world, which is increasingly suffering from pollution created by fast fashion. The social impact of rampant consumerism in the clothing industry — such as child labor in factories or derisory wages — is well-known, but the disastrous effect on the environment is […]
Cheerful Givers: Iglesia Ni Cristo conducts ‘Aid to Humanity’ Charity Event in UK and Northern Ireland
By Paul Jacob Erese and Love Ann Sison EBC UK Bureau, Eagle News Service (Eagle News) — As winter season approaches, members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) or Church Of Christ in Birmingham, United Kingdom and Belfast, Northern Ireland put faith into action by donating over 4,000 winter clothing and over 3,000 care packages to local communities and charities. The event is one of many, simultaneously held with other INC congregations all […]
Germany’s seven-day Covid incidence rate at record high: official data
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s incidence rate measuring the number of new coronavirus infections per 100,000 people over the last seven days soared to 201.1 on Monday, a record since the pandemic erupted more than a year ago. The last high had been 197.6, reached on December 22, 2020. With the vaccination rate in the country stagnating at under 70 percent, officials have pleaded in the last days for the population to get the jab. […]
Climate on track to devastate world’s poorest economies: study
by Marlowe HOOD GLASGOW, United Kingdom (AFP) — The 65 most vulnerable nations will see GDP drop 20 percent on average by 2050 and 64 percent by 2100 if the world heats up 2.9 degrees Celsius, according to a report released Monday at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow. Even if global temperature rises are capped at 1.5C, in keeping with the most ambitious Paris Agreement goal, the same countries would take a GDP hit […]
Eleazar orders dismissal proceedings vs cop charged with kidnapping in Manila
(Eagle News) — Philippine National Police Chief Guillermo Eleazar has ordered the Internal Affairs Office to initiate summary proceedings against a policeman charged with kidnapping in Manila. Eleazar ordered the filing of administrative charges against Patrolman Wilfredo Mindanao of the Police Security Protection Group after he was implicated in the kidnapping of a man he and another alleged cohort claimed had been caught in possession of illegal drugs. The PNP said the cohort, Romeo Aday, […]
Rappers Travis Scott, Drake sued over deadly Texas concert crush
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Rappers Travis Scott and Drake have been sued for having “incited mayhem” after eight people were killed and dozens injured in a crush during a Texas concert, the law firm confirmed on Sunday. Texas firm Thomas J. Henry Law on Sunday tweeted a story published by the Daily Mail on the suit, confirming it had filed “one of the first lawsuits in Travis Scott Astroworld Festival tragedy.” The plaintiff is […]
Desperate US bid to engineer corals for climate change
by Chandan Khanna with Glenn Chapman in San Francisco Agence France-Presse MIAMI, Florida (AFP) – A bit of coral shimmers like gold in a US lab as part of urgent work to help the species protect itself from climate change, an effort even skeptical experts see as sadly justifiable. Researchers in Florida are aiming to determine whether coral can be saved from rising water temperatures and acidification by transplanting stem cells from resistant varieties to […]
Protesters demand climate action in global rally
by Kelly MACNAMARA and Patrick GALEY Agence France-Presse GLASGOW, United Kingdom (AFP) – Tens of thousands of protesters braved rain and wind in Glasgow Saturday as part of worldwide demonstrations against what campaigners say is a failure of crunch UN climate talks to act fast enough to tame global warming. Dozens of events were planned worldwide to demand cuts in fossil fuel use and immediate help for communities already affected by climate change, particularly in […]
Chasm opens between COP26 words and climate action
by Patrick GALEY Agence France-Presse GLASGOW, United Kingdom (AFP) – COP26’s first week saw keynote pledges to end deforestation, phase out coal, and mobilise trillions for green investment. But observers say there is a gulf between host Britain’s proclamations and the emissions cuts that must be achieved. Mohamed Adow, director of the Nairobi-based climate think tank Power Shift Africa, told AFP that there had been “two realities” at the global climate conference in Glasgow. “One […]
